The hand-colored, 13-by-9-inch artwork, which was created for a strip that ran in 1986, sold for $203,150 last Friday, setting a new auction record for a piece of newspaper comic strip art. The record was previously held by a 'Peanuts' original that sold for $113,500 in 2007.

“A world record price like this is a testament to just how beloved ‘Calvin and Hobbes’ was and is,” said Heritage Auctions vice president Todd Hignite. “The final price realized tops any offering from any cartoonist ever, including the giants like Charles [Schulz], Winsor McCay and Elzie Segar.”

Heritage also auctioned off an original watercolor cover for the 1989-1990 'Calvin and Hobbes' calendar, which sold for a whopping $107,550.

In the years since 'Calvin and Hobbes' concluded, Watterson has remained out of the public eye and given no indication that the strip will ever resume. Maybe this overwhelming display of popularity is just the inspiration he needs. Fingers crossed.